Thursday, October 12, 2006 Editorials: Arming traffic enforcers
The proposal of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) to arm traffic enforcers can be likened to the act of rushing to get machineguns from the armory just because an ant bit one of their people.
While Citom officials were careful enough to say that only responsible enforcers will be given the privilege, the fact remains that the proposal was made after a minibus driver stabbed a Citom personnel last week.
Such an important proposal, however, should have been a product of a deeper study and not knee-jerk.
Apparently, there is this perception that many drivers of public utility vehicles are abusive, but nobody is also saying that the city’s traffic enforcers are saints.
For that, one can add or argue that the chaotic traffic situation in the metropolis is not a breeding ground for saints, especially in the matter of enforcing traffic laws.
But while traffic is chaotic there sometimes, our roads are not war zones.
One can curse some drivers for being abusive, but the abuses definitely do not go as far as these people arming themselves to get back at traffic enforcers every time they are apprehended for violation of traffic rules.
So why arm traffic enforcers?
For that, consider the culture at the Cebu City Hall: for top City Government officials—guns; for barangay captains—guns; even for barangay tanods—guns.
It’s as if, for them, the only efficient way to implement tasks and solve peace and order problems is to be armed and to look dangerous.
Opposition to a ‘retake’
Nursing board exams passers and their relatives who are protesting Malacañang’s plan for them to retake the test have a new ally after the spokesman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines supported their stand.
The protesters, especially those in Cebu, need all the support they can get considering that top government officials seem to be favoring a retake.
With the furor sparked by the leakage issue and the retake decision floated earlier by Malacañang, there is now a need for all concerned to carefully sift through the information and opinions and come up with a fair solution to the problem.
If not, this issue will surely spill over to next year’s elections.
